Trump aide Navarro says he was ‘firebombed’ by India over Russian oil remarks: ‘Don’t do that’

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro has hit back at criticism in India over his remarks on New Delhi’s trade policies and purchases of Russian oil, urging his critics to stop making what he called “nasty little attacks”.

“I actually got firebombed by the Indian continent on the internet with all sorts of nasty little attacks. And all I would say is, don’t do that. That’s not how we resolve problems here in America,” Navarro told reporters at the White House on Tuesday.

Navarro, a close adviser to US President Donald Trump on trade and manufacturing, has repeatedly criticised India, accusing it of benefiting Russia through its purchases of Russian crude and referring to the country as the “Maharaja of tariffs”.

He claimed India had little involvement in the Russian oil trade before Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but significantly increased purchases afterward.

“Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, India was not involved in the oil trade with Russia, but afterwards it got heavily involved,” Navarro said, alleging that India’s trade helped support Russia’s war effort.

Navarro also claimed he had played a role in reducing India’s Russian oil purchases, pointing to an opinion article he wrote for the Financial Times.

“Maybe, I had a little bit to do with that with that op-ed,” he said.

Navarro’s criticism of India

In his Financial Times opinion piece, Navarro described India’s Russian oil purchases as “opportunistic” and “corrosive” to Western efforts to isolate Moscow economically.

He accused India of helping finance Russia’s war in Ukraine while maintaining high tariffs and trade barriers against US goods.

Navarro later intensified his criticism, describing India as a “laundromat for the Kremlin” and referring to the Russia-Ukraine conflict as “Modi’s war”.

India rejects Navarro’s claims

India has previously dismissed Navarro’s allegations about its Russian oil purchases as “inaccurate and misleading”.

“We have seen the inaccurate and misleading statements made by Mr Navarro and obviously reject them,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in September last year.